


you pierce my heart

by athenasdragon



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 15:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17428238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athenasdragon/pseuds/athenasdragon
Summary: For the flower meaning prompts on Tumblr: zinnia (I mourn your absence), jonquil (desire) and gladiolus (you pierce my heart)Some years post-canon, Agnieszka and Sarkan exchange letters while he's in Kralia on business.





	you pierce my heart

Sarkan,

You’ll laugh, but the dancing in Olshanka wasn’t the same without you this year—even if you usually just stand off to one side looking severe, I’ve grown accustomed to seeing you there. The harvest ran smoothly as usual. It was a good year, and our portion for the tower barely made a dent.

My great grand-niece asked if I would take her as an apprentice so that she wouldn’t have to feed the chickens anymore. I think she’s heard some of the stories of the dragon girls, to the extent that they still float around the villages from time to time. I told her that I would consider it if she showed great skill with her chores.

I hope that the Queen won’t keep you for so long this time. You would think that it would get easier, having you away from the Valley, but I find myself looking for you in your chair in the library, or rolling over in the morning to feel for you next to me.

(And here you will be hurriedly leaving the palace library, your ears going red—how dare I mention our bed in a letter which you may be reading in  _public_!)

In any case, please give Kralia my regards. Perhaps in a few more years I will forget my distaste enough to return, in order to learn my lesson for the next decade. But for now, I wait here and tend to the Wood.

Affectionately,

Nieshka

* * *

Agnieszka,

You sealed your parchment with Spindle water, didn’t you? You teasing thing, half a dozen parchments dumped into my arms this morning and I could feel yours like an ember.

I will have you know that I was  _not_  reading your letter in the library. I was sitting in my room, gazing wistfully out my window like the lovesick fool I am; there was no one to witness my blushes. And there’s no need to make me feel bad for leaving when Alosha already laughs at me for my distraction every day.

I am sorry to hear that my absence ruined the festival for you. I’m sure that the townspeople sat around the bonfire weeping and sighing—and I’m sure that not even once did you overcome your sorrow to carouse barefoot in the grass.

The Queen is her usual grave self. Every morning she comes to inquire after our projects—her questions written in advance, of course. I believe that I will be able to return within a fortnight; most of these works do not require my presence. My plan is to come directly to the Wood and find you at your cottage. Loathe as I am to admit it, I long to be back in the Valley.

In the meantime, please do try to keep the library in some semblance of order.

Yours,

Sarkan


End file.
